ochre meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

ochre

noun

UK /ˈəʊkə/ · US /ˈoʊkɚ/

Etymology From Old French ocre and its source Latin ōchra, from Ancient Greek ὤχρα (ṓkhra, “pale yellow”), from ὠχρός (ōkhrós, “pale, ocher”) (modern Greek ωχρός (ochrós)).

1

A clay earth pigment containing silica, aluminum and ferric oxide.

2

A somewhat dark yellowish orange colour.

3

Colloquial The stop codon sequence "UAA".

Molecular biology

4

Dated, Slang Money, especially gold.

‘What does he come here cheeking us for, then?’ cried Master Kidderminster, showing a very irascible temperament. ‘If you want to cheek us, pay your ochre at the doors and take it out.’1854, Charles Dickens, chapter 6, in Hard Times:

5

Any of various brown-coloured hesperiid butterflies of the genus Trapezites.

Derived terms: brown ochre, gold ochre, ochraceous, ochre-bellied boobook, ochreish, ochrey, ochrish, ochroid, ochroleucous, orange ochre, purple ochre, red ochre, uran-ochre, yellow ochre

ochre

adj

Etymology From Old French ocre and its source Latin ōchra, from Ancient Greek ὤχρα (ṓkhra, “pale yellow”), from ὠχρός (ōkhrós, “pale, ocher”) (modern Greek ωχρός (ochrós)).

1

Having a yellow-orange colour.

2

Archaeology, History, Human sciences, Sciences Referring to cultures that covered their dead with ochre.

ochre

verb

Etymology From Old French ocre and its source Latin ōchra, from Ancient Greek ὤχρα (ṓkhra, “pale yellow”), from ὠχρός (ōkhrós, “pale, ocher”) (modern Greek ωχρός (ochrós)).

1

To cover or tint with ochre.

[…] his eye was caught by the sight of one child in a group of smaller children playing in the shallows some little distance down—a white child, so white by contrast with the others that at first he thought it must be ochred, which it could not be while playing in the water.1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter 14, in Capricornia, New York: Appleton, published 1943, page 229:
The sun gloats in the sky, casting a gleam on the pasture where there was so much umbering and ochreing only moments before.2009 July 6, Verlyn Klinkenborg, “How the Thunder Sounds”, in New York Times:

Related terms: ochrous, ochreous, kokowai, ruddle